Sky Above, Earth Below
by Child of Mars
Summary: Nathan and Peter are on a flight together. A real flight. The kind when your body cuts through clouds and the wind blows through you and you're flying all by yourself. Except Nathan doesn't enjoy it as much as Peter does. Introspective piece, one brother's thoughts on the other.


_**Author's Note: Ah, Heroes, how do I love thee, how do I miss thee. Nathan Petrelli especially, you confused, morally grey, but always Peter-loving politician. I mourn for you, always.**_

* * *

**Sky Above, Earth Below**

There were few sensations in the world, Peter thought, that were quite as fantastic as flight. Power surging through his body as the air around him obeyed his every command, following the impulses from each and every nerve beneath his skin. Below him, the wide sea roared, powerless to touch or stop him. Droplets spattered his lips, nose, and cheekbones. Once in a while they landed on the delicate tips of his eyelashes, causing him to flinch and blink rapidly…but that was all. The mighty Pacific itself couldn't stop this human bullet.

Peter had proven the fact to himself by bending his head, putting on a burst of speed, and burrowing under the surface of the water. The resulting splash was enormous, enough to reach his brother who pulled up short and levitated helplessly over the ocean in a state of panic.

When he broke free a mile or so away, roaring at the golden sun and laughing like that stupid kid from the Greek myth, Icarus, Peter still remembered the wonderful feeling as his aerokenetic field swiftly swept all the water drops away, drying his skin, clothes, and hair.

Nathan's very angry, very _loud_ scolding surged out of the microphone, loaded with screaming static. Peter winced, turning his head away with a hiss of pain as it shrieked in his ear. The flight was very controlled and calm after that, the two of them flying in formation, wing tip to wing tip like obedient little airplanes. Peter chaffed against the restriction. Who in the world could have a power like this and not take the time to enjoy it?

Apparently Nathan could, and the guy'd been _born_ with it. Mom and Nathan always glanced strangely at each other when Peter tried to get into their genetic history, but he'd never been able to pry the secret out of them. And that angered him. His brother and his mother…the most talented liars he'd ever met.

Feeling a little bitter and contrary, Peter spread his arms out wide, dangerously extending his aerokenetic field. It was weaker this way and harder to maintain but to Peter it was worth the feeling of his sleeves slapping wildly around his arms in the roaring wind.

"Pete, stop that. You're gonna spiral out of control and hit the water again." Nathan's voice crackled over the comm sewn into Peter's jacket. If he turned his head ever so slightly, he could see his brother a few yards away, a twin human bullet of sonic speed leaving a trail of white air and burnt molecules.

"Then I'll hold my breath and fly out again," Peter replied with a smirk. His reflection danced wildly, distorted by the waves below.

"You can't just _do_ that," Nathan's voice was quickly running out of patience, "you can't just take a dip in the water every time you feel like it. You could drown or…"

"Yeah I know. I might just forget to fly and get eaten by a shark."

When there was no reply to his smart comeback, Peter focused his sonic hearing on his brother. It was difficult, at first, to concentrate on anything but the muffled roar of the air all around them as it was ripped apart by their extreme speed but finally, he found what he was looking for.

The rasping of lungs squeezing out oxygen and sucking it in, the soft swish of Nathan's eyelids going up and down, the grinding sound of teeth clenched tightly together, and of course, the comfortable _thumpety-thump _of his heart. Funny, nearly a month ago Peter would have sworn his brother didn't have any. Now, he appreciated and understood it all the more, despite how well it was hidden and how little Nathan listened to it.

"Hey, Nathan." There was no reply. His brother was probably sulking. He did that a lot now that Peter wasn't his obedient, ignorant little brother living their old, comfortable life anymore. Without waiting for an answer Peter continued, a mischievous smile pulling up the good side of his mouth, "I can hear your heart all the way from here…it's _really_ fast."

"Shut up." Nathan replied flatly.

"Like a rabbit's."

"Shut _up_."

Pleased at getting a reaction, Peter resumed his flight in silence, watching a white blur he thought might have been a seagull as it just missed his face. It was then that he noticed Nathan's heartbeat wasn't slowing down. "Nathan?"

Again, there was no answer. Peter looked sideways, putting in extra force on his left side to keep himself going straight as he watched his brother.

It was hard to see much of Nathan like this but he could tell his brother was staring straight ahead, both arms rigid, held up in front of him as if he'd falter and fall without their guidance. Peter knew arms weren't necessary to direct flight. It wasn't like Superman. It just sort of _happened_ when you thought about it. Which probably meant Nathan wasn't thinking about anything really except _keep going_ because he had to _get to the other side_ and just _land_.

If anything, the heartbeat was getting faster. "Nathan, talk to me."

"Pete." The word was short and clipped, as if Nathan's jaw had briefly unlocked just to utter his brother's name and then clamped shut again. Not a breath before or after, just a sharp word squeezed out by sheer willpower.

Nathan didn't like heights, _at all_. It hadn't always been that way. Before he began pursuing a political career under their parents' guidance, Nathan had always wanted to be a pilot. He still had a T-Shirt in his stuff from when he was just nine years old and there was an airplane printed on the front of it. But then, as his smiling face got pasted on red, white, and blue posters and his name mentioned at every high-class social dinner, Nathan sort of forgot about his dream, like a well-fed, well-caged bird forgets how to fly.

Then the accident came. That horrifying moment when Nathan was unable to save the woman he loved, and unable to avoid saving himself. Something inside him chose _for_ him, chose his own life over Heidi's…and for Nathan, that was unforgivable.

Flying was dangerous. At any moment he could mess up, his instincts would take over, and he would do something as horrible as leaving Heidi alone to smash into a cement divider. Anytime, instinct could take over and he would let someone down when they needed him most. His greatest fear. Letting people down, whether it was Mom or Dad, Claire or Peter.

It was also Nathan's greatest tragedy. He pretended not to care because he cared too much. He tried to please everybody. He forgave everything. His manipulative mother, abusive father, contrary brother, and rebellious daughter. He tried to perform the crime he'd been raised for and to keep safe the loved ones he'd grown to cherish, tried to fulfill the dreams of all his family members, the manipulative ones and the ones who actually cared. It just didn't work.

Nathan had difficulty being true to himself for the simple reason that he tried to be true to everybody. Many years ago, when Nathan cut short his leave so he could come home from the air force and join Peter for his birthday, Mom had called him a big sap when she thought Peter couldn't hear. Peter hadn't understood then. He kinda did now.

He brought his arms back down to his sides and swerved closer to his brother, keeping his voice low and calm as he spoke into the microphone. "Nathan…relax. It's just the ocean." They'd never flown over the ocean for so long before, looking everywhere for a small boat with a renegade special in it. Now, as Peter glanced from one empty horizon to the other he realized how long it'd been since they'd last seen land, how unnerving it would be for Nathan to lose control here of all places and plunge into the sea.

Peter would save him, of course, if that happened. But to Nathan, that wasn't how the world worked. _He_ saved people, not the other way around.

Shifting his body, Peter rolled through the air like a jet changing formation. He zoomed underneath Nathan and held his position there perfectly, spreading his body wide as possible like a safety net. Listening carefully, he heard Nathan's heartbeat begin to even out. He could just imagine that sheepish, small smile Nathan put on when he was grateful but didn't know exactly how to tell you.

Finally, a breathless, shaky voice came through the comm. "Thanks, Pete."

"No trouble," Pete replied, smiling at the horizon ahead as the two brothers soared together towards the early evening sun.

FINIS


End file.
